Turkey’s cyber vulnerability

According to Duygu Doğan, Senior Associate at Kılınç Law & Consulting, an Istanbul-based corporate and commercial law firm, Turkey’s maritime sector is particularly vulnerable to future attacks.

Turkey has a thriving shipping sector that is continuously growing each year. The shipbuilding, ship breaking and recycling industry is one of the fastest growing sectors in the economy employing more than 300,000 people. However, unlike the US and the EU, there is no dedicated law that governs cybersecurity in Turkey, making shipping companies even more potentially vulnerable to cyber attacks.

Instead, there is the Data Protection Law No. 6698 (DPL), which was introduced in 2016. This serves as an umbrella law for the protection of all personal data by any means, including cyberspace. It contains relevant provisions of international instruments while sectorial regulations form a legal patchwork for cybersecurity. However, Duygu argues, there needs to be more specific domestic legislation that directly regulates illegal cyber activity.

Accordingly, Turkey needs to implement regulations that protect every company in the shipping industry from such pernicious attacks.